CASTLE PINES, Colo. — A Castle Pines resident admitted to killing a sow bear, fearful the bear would enter their home, during the early morning hours of June 27, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said on Sunday.
The resident admitted to CPW on Friday evening that they killed the bear around 1 a.m. Thursday. Under state law, it is legal for a person to use lethal force to protect their personal safety when they feel threatened by a bear.
Any such killing of a bear that falls under that statute must be reported within five days, which occurred in this case, CPW said. Officers are still investigating to make sure they have all the facts surrounding the case.
“This is an unfortunate occurrence, and you never want to hear of a sow getting killed and cubs being orphaned,” said CPW Northeast Region Manager Mark Leslie. “Review of the events, in this case, did not reveal any statutory violation with regards to the killing of the sow.”
Joe Oltmann, who lives in the neighborhood, said on Friday that he thought someone killed the bear.
Oltmann said he heard what he thought was gunshots about 1 a.m. Thursday. He said he looked around later that morning and didn't find anything. The next day, Oltmann said he saw two bear cubs in a tree in his yard and called CPW.
A CPW officer looked for the mother of the cubs. She was eventually found dead in a ditch under the tree.
CPW captured the orphaned cubs and brought them to the Frisco Creek Wildlife Facility in Del Norte, where they will remain through the winter, a tweet from the department says. The cubs will eventually be released back into the wild.
The sow was initially accompanied by three cubs, but CPW has yet to locate the third cub. The case highlights the challenges of managing wildlife along the Front Range.
“Black bears are an important native species in Colorado, and they are thriving,” Leslie said. “We have a lot of people living in good bear habitat now, and Castle Pines is one of many examples of that. Anywhere along the Front Range provides good bear habitat because they have everything they need to survive - food, shelter and water. The food sources available to them are part of their natural diets, but they also are frequently lured into our neighborhoods by attractants that accompany humans like trash, bird feeders, pet food and the smells left from barbecue grills.”
The body of the sow was located Friday morning, and a necropsy was performed by wildlife officers later that afternoon. CPW has not said exactly how the bear died.
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